USES OF CELLULAR MICROENVIRONMENTS AND STUDYING EFFECTIVNESS OF ANTI-CANCER DRUGS
By Jared Man and Ben Roadarmel
MICROENVIRONMENTS
• Cells interacting
• Create in vivo conditions
• Various signals
• Cells contribute their own effects
• React to outside forces
• Adjust to different cues
• Recreate portions of living organisms
• Can be studied and tested
CREATION OF CELLULAR MICROENVIRONMENTS
• Cells use adhesion
• Connected through cellular signaling machinery
• Cells send messages to other cells
• Use proteins to build and repair
APPLICATIONS
• Drug testing
• Skin grafts
• Tumor studies
• Comparison to contemporary ways
THE TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT
• Cancer cells disrupt the efficient delivery of blood
• This causes cells that resort to lactic acid fermentation and increases acidity
• This causes an inefficient distribution and decreased effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs
THE TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT
• The only way to ensure tumor destruction is with large doses of powerful chemotherapeutic drugs
• Serious side effects occur as a result
• Using nanocapsules as a delivery system for the drugs may subside these side effects
NANOCAPSULES
• A nanoparticle could be used to encapsulate a particular drug
• This particle could then be designed to release its contents only in the presence of disrupted blood vessels
• This would facilitate efficient delivery of the drugs only to the affected area and not to any healthy cells
• This method of delivery could reduce the toxicity of cancer treatment which increase patient survivability
TESTING NANOCAPSULES
• Currently many kinds of drugs are being studied with nanocarriers
• Many of these test are done using in vitro methods
• The ability to grow complex three dimensional cellular structures is crucial to these studies
• Given that cancer is the leading cause of death around the world, the ability to test quickly could save millions of lives
TESTING NANOCAPSULES
• In vitro testing has provide valuable information to advance cancer treatment
• However, inconsistencies between preclinical studies and clinical trials still exist
• These inconsistencies can be attributed to oversimplification of the tumor microenvironment
TESTING NANOCAPSULES
• In the future, more complex three dimensional cultures must be produced to provide more applicable results
SKIN GRAFTS
• Creation of artificial replacement tissue
• Uses in vitro cultured cells to generate functional tissues
• Occur after severe trauma to the skin
• Prevents extensive scar tissue
DNA REPLICATION
• Enzymes allow sections of DNA to be cut from microenvironments
• Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Study DNA mutations
• Paternity tests
• Genetic disorders
IN VITRO PROCESSES
• Spermatozoa and egg result in an embryo
• In vitro diagnostics
• Test for certain diseases
• Report clinical status of patients
BENEFITS OF CELLULAR MICROENVIRONMENT TESTING
• Toxicity testing
• Cost-effective
• Fast
• No fear of harming people or animals
• Study portions of humans
ECONOMICS AND COST EFFICIENCY
• Cells can reproduce
• Simple to create
• Testing many drugs at once saves time
• No shortage of cancer cells
SUSTAINABILITY
• In vitro testing is time efficient
• Cost effective
• Environmentally friendly
• Places no risk on human or animal subjects
• Easily reproducible
POTENTIAL PITFALLS
• May not successfully mimic in vivo conditions
• Contaminated by outside forces
• Difficult to control internal temperatures
• Can be mishandled
• No emotional response to treatments
• Microfabrication technologies
CONCLUSION
• There are many benefits to in vitro testing
• It could help create new ways to treat cancer
• It could be used to grow replacement organs
• It could even end world hunger
• While it is not that developed yet, it is an innovation worth furthering